A Lehigh County jury on Wednesday rejected a husband's "private investigation" defense, finding him guilty of violating a protection order and stalking his estranged wife in Emmaus while wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a cache of weapons.

Flint Staton, 32, of Perkiomenville will be sentenced next month and could serve more than 10 years in a state prison. He sat stone faced as the verdict was read.

His wife, Anne Staton, sat with supporters on the other side of the courtroom. She did not react to the verdict.

The jury of seven men and five women deliberated for nearly two hours before finding Staton guilty on 15 counts, including stalking, terroristic threats, unlawful possession of body armor and firearms offenses.

The verdict capped a five-day trial in which Staton said that he wasn't stalking his wife but instead conducting a "private investigation" to determine if she was cheating on him.

He said Anne Staton conspired with police to frame him, as part of her plan to win sole custody of their two daughters.

Anne Staton testified that she left her husband in 2012, but he refused to grant her a divorce and constantly followed and harassed her. There was an active Protection From Abuse order filed against Staton at the time of his arrest which banned him from possessing weapons or contacting his wife.

At the end of the trial, Deputy District Attorney Robert Schopf played several phone messages Anne Staton received from her husband on the days leading up to his arrest.

"Expect the worst," Flint Staton said on the tape. "I'm not going to tolerate it…you're going to deal with this. You're going to deal with me. With no rules."

He told the jury that Staton considered his wife "property," and was not willing to let her go.

"He has conceded stalking her, but he calls it by a different name," he said.

Jurors returned to the courtroom during deliberations and asked to read text messages Staton sent. One message read: Believe me when I say you will listen to me.

Staton's attorney, Robert Long, said his client sent the angry text messages and voice mails out of frustration because Anne Staton wasn't allowing him contact with their children.

"This is a domestic case. It belongs in domestic, not criminal court," he said.

Long said Staton shouldn't be found guilty of terrorizing his wife because she didn't know he was watching her.

"If someone doesn't know that you're there, how can they be caused substantial emotional distress?" he asked.

Staton was arrested Feb. 4, 2013, after a police officer spotted him on the same route Anne Staton took to her janitorial job each morning at 5 a.m. An Emmaus detective had been watching Anne Staton's apartment due to her numerous calls.

Flint Staton was pulled over on Main Street and police say they found numerous weapons in his car, including knives, brass knuckles, a Taser and a handgun.

Police say a camera found in Staton's car was full of photos taken from afar of Anne Staton, her apartment door, and the license plates of cars that had parked near hers. She had complained to police that he was following her in Macungie a week before his arrest.

Staton did not speak after the verdict. He remains in prison while awaiting sentencing. Long declined to comment.